s,
and was going to buy her cheap offn the town, what share of her he
didn't figger he owned already.

"Why, Jake," I says, "I hope they ain't been no trouble of no kind that
has drug the law into your barn!"

"Well, Danny," he says, "they HAS been a little trouble. But it's about
over, now, I guess. And that there outfit belongs to the town now."

"You don't say so!" says I, surprised-like. "When I seen them men last
night it looked to me like they was too fine dressed to be honest."

"I don't think they be, Danny," says Jake, confidential. "In my opinion
they is mighty bad customers. But they has got on the wrong side of the
law now, and I guess they won't stay around here much longer."

"Well," says I, "Hank will be glad."

"Fur what?" asts Jake.

"Well," says I, "because he got his pay in advance fur that job and now
he don't have to finish it. They come along to our place about sundown
yesterday, and we nailed a shoe on one hoss. They was a couple of
other hoofs needed fixing, and the tire on one of the hind wheels was
beginning to rattle loose."

I had noticed that loose tire when I was standing by the hind wheel the
night before, and it come in handy now. So I goes on:

"Hank, he allowed he'd fix the hull thing fur six bottles of that Injun
medicine. Elmira has been ailing lately, and he wanted it fur her. So
they handed Hank out six bottles then and there."

"Huh!" says Jake. "So the job is all paid fur, is it?"

"Yes," says I, "and I was expecting to do it myself. But now I guess
I'll go fishing instead. They ain't no other job in the shop."

"I'll be dinged if you've got time to fish," says Jake. "I'm expecting
mebby to buy that rig off the town myself when the law lets loose of it.
So if the fixing is paid fur, I want everything fixed."

"Jake," says I, kind of worried like, "I don't want to do it without
that doctor says to go ahead."

"They ain't his'n no longer," says Jake.

"I dunno," says I, "as you got any right to make me do it, Jake. It
don't look to me like it's no harm to beat a couple of fellers like them
out of their medicine. And I DID want to go fishing this afternoon."

But Jake was that careful and stingy he'd try to skin a hoss twicet if
it died. He's bound to get that job done, now.

"Danny," he says, "you gotto do that work. It ain't HONEST not to. What
a young feller like you jest starting out into life wants to remember is
to always be honest. Then," says Jake, squinch